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How are our seas protected and managed?
Marine Protected Areas
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Features catalogue
Broad habitats
Subtidal sand
Undersea beds of sand.
Subtidal sand © Lin Baldock
Sandy seabeds usually occur on open coasts, and close inshore they are often disturbed by waves and tides. Sand seascapes may appear like deserts, but close inspection can reveal flat fish and sand eels camouflaged on the surface of the sand, and worms and bivalves (with their paired, hinged shells) living within it.
In estuaries and marine inlets where the coast is more sheltered with smaller waves and the tidal currents are reduced, more silt will combine with the sand. Different groups of animals are found here, with the exact types depending on the sand/mud mix. Heart urchins, razor shells and sea cucumbers can all be found in muddy sands.
Brief description of European distribution
Widespread around the British Isles and mainland Europe.
Further information sources
Sublittoral sediment
(JNCC)
Sublittoral sands and muddy sands (JNCC)
Infralittoral fine sand (JNCC)
Infralittoral muddy sand (JNCC)
Interesting fact
Flatfish found on sandy seabeds have both eyes on one side of their head, as it would be pointless having one eye under the sand all the time! They are born with an eye on each side of their skulls, but one gradually migrates as the fish grows.
